Magazine bar for transferring knitted fabric



U it id States Patent 3,514,977 FULL FASHIONED KNITTING MACHINE Leonard Brown, Nottingham, and Ernest William Booles,

Loughborough, England, assignors to William Cotton Limited Filed Aug. 26, 1966, Ser. No. 575,298 Claims priority, application Great Britain, Sept. 4, 1965,

,897 Int. Cl. D04b /52 US. Cl. 66126 7 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A full fashioned knitting machine in which a pair of rigid yarn deflector arms on inter-connected rods are oppositely cam operated to kink yarn for drawing additional arm acts on the additionally drawn length of yarn for accurate control during knitting movements of the yarn.

This invention is for improvements in or relating to straight bar kitting machines and concerns the control of yarn in its passage from a yarn package to the thread carrier and the needles.

. Since it is usual for some slack to be formed in the yarn, there is usually provided snapper mechanism comprising yarn snapper arms which are cam operated to grip the yarn, at a location in its travel from a yarn package to a thread carrier and the needles, and pull it back through the thread carrier to take up the slack. However there usually exists with this arrangement a disadvantage that such undue tension is applied to the yarn that faults occur at the selvedges. In an endeavor to avoid this commonly assigned US. Pat. No. 2,898,811 discloses the improvement of having an additional cam operated arm which, towards the end of each draw, i.e. when the yarn is locked to the needles by the sinkers, is operated to draw oif from the yarn package an additional length of yarn, and thereafter to relinquish this additional length of yarn to the needles as the yarn carrier moves inward from the selvedge so that at this stage the yarn is substantially tensionless so that selvedges can be satisfactorily formed.

While these yarn control devices provide what may be termed a coarse control for the yarn it is found in practice that they do not control the yarn with sufiicient precision to cater for various minor movements of the yarn which would be particularly advantageous such, for example, as during the knitting and fashioning motions of the needles and particularly when the machine is require to be run of the yarn it has been proposed to employ a spring wire yarn guide acting on the yarn between a yarn package and the. thread carrier and needles, but it will be understood that this cannot be completely satisfactory since if the strength of the spring is sufficient to avoid the slack,

'it will be so great as to apply undue tension to the yarn fed to the selvedge needle, and if the strength of the spring'is so small as not to apply too much tension to the yarn fed to the selvedge, it will not be suflicient to take up the slack.

'ice

Another disadvantage of employing the aforesaid snapper mechanism is that, when fashioning, the snapper arms must have a greater movement; for this purpose a fashioning cam, on to which the snapper arm cam follower is shogged for fashioning, has a suitable rise beyond the periphery of the normal snapper cam at a location where it is required for the cam follower to shog on to the fashioning cam. This has necessitated the snapper cam follower roller being spring biased laterally so that when the shogging action takes place the cam follower roller is urged against the side of the fashioning cam nose until the nose passes the roller whereupon the roller springs on to the fashioning cam. This is an undesirable complex arrangement.

An object of the invention is to provide control means for yarn in its passage from a yarn package to the thread carrier and needles in such improved manner as to not only provide for coarse variations in the yarn, but also provide a more sensitive control of the yarn required for the above stated reasons.

The invention provides a straight bar knitting machine wherein there is provided, for acting on the yarn in its passage from a yarn package to the needles, a yarn control arm which is adapted for resilient action and is cam operated to alternatively allow substantially free running of the yarn during the draw and apply light tension to the yarn during the knitting motion. Conveniently the yarn control arm is mounted on a cam operated yarn deflecting arm by which the yarn is kinked to provide surplus yarn which is relinquished to the selvedge needles in substantially tensionless condition for satisfactory selvedging. Conveniently also the cam operation is such that the yarn deflecting arm applies a brake on the yarn prior to a selvedge group of sinkers sinking the yarn. There may be a second yarn deflecting arm acting oppositely to the first yarn deflecting arm to kink the yarn in opposite directions enabling reduction of the first arms movements. The yarn control arm fis conveniently a spring arm pivoted on the first deflecting arm and has a head formed by an elongated eyelet through which the yarn runs. A tail of the spring arm has an attached tension spring which may be mounted for adjustment of its effective strength. Conveniently also there are stop means limiting move ment of the spring arm, and adjustment means for adjusting the relative positions of the different arms.

Conveniently during fashioning the yarn is under control of the spring arm so that the usual rise on the fashioning cam is dispensed with and the cam follower roller may be consequently of simple form i.e. not laterally spring biased. The fashioning cam may have a small dip forsome controlled movement of the spring arm during fashioning. a

The invention also provides in a straight bar knitting machine, yarn control means comprising'at least one yarn control arm' which is cam operated between one position in which it allows the yarn to run without deflection substantially freely and a second position in which it kinks the yarn to provide a surplus thereof for subsequently relinquishing, and a spring arm adapted to provide resilient control for the yarn when in the second kinked condition.

The foregoing and other features of the invention are incorporated in the specific embodiment to be hereinafter particularly described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a somewhat diagrammatic side view of yarn control means of a Cottons patent straight bar knitting machine according to the invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of part of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of part of FIG. 1.

J1me 1970 v H. BLIEDERHAUSERY 3,

MAGAZINE BAR FOR TRANSFERRING KNITTED FABRIC Filed Sept. 26, 1968 10 Sheets-Sheet 2 Heinz. filicdxrhduizr ATTORNEY IN VENTOR J1me 1970 H. BLIEDERHAUSER 3,

MAGAZINE BAR FOR TRANSFERRING KNITTED FABRIC Filed Sept. 26, 1968 l0 Sheets-Sheet 5 Fig. 5

n n if u n n I INVENTOR BY W /7 ATTORNEY June 2, 1970 H. BLIEDERHAUSERV 3,51

MAGAZINE BAR FOR TRANSFERRING KNITTED FABRIC Filed Sept. 26, 1968 10 Sheets-Sheet Fig. 6

INVENTOR Hall 2- jl eicrhiarer BY f ATTORNEY June 2, 1970 H. BLIEDERHAUSER 3,514,978

MAGAZINE BAR FOR TRANSFERRING KNITTED FABRIC Filed Sept. 26, 1968 1o Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENT OR BY M ' i ATTORNEY June 2, 1970 H. BLIEDERHAUSER 3,

MAGAZINE BAR FOR TRANSFERRING KNITTED FABRIC Filed Sept. 26, 1968 10 Sheets-Sheet 8 INVENTOR gain; 'e (Lu-hi. uur' BY q 4 4 ATTORNEY June 2, 1970 H. BLIEDERHAUSER 3,514,978

MAGAZINE BAR FOR TRANSFERRING KNITTED FABRIC Filed Sept. 26, 1968 10 Sheets-Sheet 7 INVENTOR Haul 1- "ederuser ATTORNEY June 2, 1970 H. BLIEDERHAUSER 3,514,978

MAGAZINE BAR FOR TRANSFERRING KNITTED FABRIC Filed Sept. 26, 1968 10 Sheets-Sheet 8 Fig. 10

INVENT OR Heir:

(e 40' hallwa- ATTORNEY June 2, 1970 H. BLIEDERHAUSER 3,514,973

MAGAZINE BAR FOR TRANSFERRING KNITTED FABRIC Filed Sept. 26, 1968 10 Sheets-Sheet 9 I WW 1 Fig. 11

INVENT OR BY M A ATTORNEY June 2, 1970 H. BLIEDERHAUSER 3,514,973

MAGAZINE BAR FOR TRANSFERRING KNITTED FABRIC Filed Sept. 20, 1968 1o Sheets-Sheet 10 Fig. 13 3 L INVENTOR 25 Ht (I4 ylc'zlerhiarcr' ATTORNEY United States Patent Office 3,514,978 Patented June 2, 1970 3,514,978 MAGAZINE BAR FOR TRANSFERRING KNITTED FABRIC Heinz Bliederhiiuser, Bortlingen, Germany, assignor to Gebruder Boehringer Gesellschaft mit beschrankter Haftung, Goppingen, Germany, a limited-liability company of Germany Filed Sept. 26, 1968, Ser. No. 762,680 Int. Cl. D04b 9/40 US. Cl. 66-148 8 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The novel magazine bar which serves to transfer knitted fabric from a knitting machine having needles spaced in accordance with a first pattern to another knitting machine having needles spaced in accordance with a second pattern. For this purpose means are provided for so varying the spacing of the needles that this spacing may be selectively adjusted in accordance with said first pattern or in accordance with said second pattern. The adjusting means may comprise a gate having converging rods which engage between the magazine needles and displace the same laterally thereby changing thier distance, when the gate is moved transversely to the needles.

My invention relates to a magazine bar which serves to receive knitted fabric from the needles of a first knitting machine and to transfer such fabric to the needles of a second knitting machine.

Where the needles are spaced in accordance with identical patterns, the transfer of the fabric by means of the magazine bar from the one machine to the other is possible without any complicated manual work and can be performed by automatic means. Frequently, however, the needles of the first knitting machine are spaced in accordance with a first pattern and the needles of the second knitting machine are spaced in accordance with a second different pattern. This is so because it is often desirable to double the loops of the fabric or to vary its density to thereby increase the elasticity of the fabric, when same is transferred from the one knitting machine to the other. In this case it was necessary heretofore to put the fabric to be transferred, for instance the rib produced on this straight bar knitting machine, manually loop by loop upon the needles of the magazine bar.

It is an object of my invention to provide an improved magazine bar capable of directly receiving the fabric from the needles of a fabric-supplying knitting machine and to deliver such fabric to the needles of a fabric-receiving machine, where the needles of the supplying machine are spaced from each other in accordance with a pattern different from that of the needles of the receiving machine, Without requiring the transfer of the individual loops by hand.

It is a further object of my invention to provide an improved transfer bar in which the spacing of the needles can be changed by a simple manipulation in accordance with any desired pattern.

Further objects of my invention will appear from a detailed description of preferred embodiments of my invention illustrated in the accompanying drawings. It is to be understood, however, that my invention is in no way restricted or limited to such details but is capable of numerous modifications within the scope of the appended claims.

In the drawings- FIG. 1 illustrates a cross section taken through the novel magazine bar provided with a movable gate shown in its lowermost position, the upper and lower ends of the apparatus being shown broken away,

FIG. 2 illustrates such lower end of the apparatus and thus represents a continuation of the lower portion of FIG. 1,

FIG. 3 shows a sectional view of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1 with the gate being in its upper position.

FIG. 4 is a continuation of the top portion of FIG. 1,

FIG. 5 is a partial elevation of the apparatus shown in FIG. I viewed in the direction of the arrow V,

FIG. 6 is an elevation of the apparatus shown in the position of FIG. 3 viewed in the direction of the arrow VI of FIG. 3,

FIG. 7 is the sectional view taken along the plane VIIVII of FIG. 1,

FIG. 8 is a sectional view taken along the plane VIIL-VIII of FIG. 3,

FIG. 9 is a sectional view taken along the plane IXIX of FIG. 5, the needles of the receiving knitting machine being shown diagrammatically,

FIG. 10 is a sectional view taken along the plane XX of FIG. 6 diagrammatically representing the needles of the supplying knitting machine,

FIG. 11 is a view similar to that of FIG. 5 of a gate of other design,

FIG. 12 is a sectional representation of a modified design of the novel apparatus similar to the view shown in FIG. 9 and FIG. 13 is a modification of the apparatus equipped with adjusting spindles for the needles.

The apparatus illustrated in the drawings is of the type which is known in the art as a magazine bar equipped with a straight row of parallel needles 14 disposed in a common plane, the needles being so movably mounted within this plane transversely to their longitudinal directions as to remain substantially parallel to each other upon such displacement. For this purpose each needle of the embodiments of the invention illustrated in FIGS. 1-11 has a straight stem 16 the end portion 18 of which is bent at right angles to form a pivot journalled in the end portion of a guiding arm 20. This guiding arm 20 extends parallel to the plane accommodating the stems 16 of the needles. When the apparatus is in the position illustrated in the drawings this plane is horizontal.

The apparatus is provided With a frame which is not shown in detail but includes a plurality of parallel beams, rod and shafts which are rigidly connected with each other by suitable transverse members and are illustrated in the drawings. More particularly FIGS. 1, 3, 7 and 9 show two such beams 22 and 24. The beam 22 carries a straight row of vertical upwardly projecting pins 26 spaced equal distances from each other. This distance corresponds substantially to the average distance of the needles of the knitting machines with which the novel transfer bar is designed to cooperate. The guiding arms 20 are mounted on the pins 26 for pivotal movement in a horizontal plane. Vertical bearings accommodating the pins 26 and the pivot formed by the end portion 18 of the needle are provided on the opposite ends of each guiding arm 20. Preferably, such bearings are formed by sheet metal sleeves having flanges riveted to the fiat guiding bars 20. The end portions of the guiding arms are slidably supported on the fiat top surfaces of the frame bars 22, 24. The arms 20 guide the needles 14 for adjustment to any desired distance.

In FIG. 8 the needles 14 are shown in an adjusted position in which they are spaced equal distances which may correspond for instance to the needle pitch of the knitting machine on which the ribs 30, FIG. 10, are produced. When the needles 14 are adjusted in accordance with FIG. 8, my improved magazine bar may take off the ribs from the knitting machine in a simple transfer opera- 3 tion which does not require a manual individual transfer of loops.

When the needles 14 are adjusted as shown in FIG. 7 their spacing is different. There are larger gaps 37 between needle groups each comprising five equally spaced needles, the width of each gap being twice the distance of the needle spacing within each group.

When the needles 14 with the spacing shown in FIG. 8 have received the fabric 30 from the needles 15 of the fabric-producing machine, FIG. 10, and are then adjusted in accordance with FIG. 7, the novel magazine bar is ready to be placed in opposition to the needles 32, FIG. 9, of the transfer bar of a straight bar knitting machine (the receiving knitting machine) whereupon the fabric may be readily shifted from the needles 14 on to the needles 32 without any individual handling of the loops in a simple shifting operation.

From the foregoing it will appear that the needles 14 adjusted in accordance with the pattern illustrated in FIG. 7 corresponding to the pattern of the needle spacing of the receiving straight bar knitting machine are characterized by such and adjustability that their spacing may be changed in accordance with the pattern shown in FIG. 8 of the needle spacing of the supplying knitting machine, and vice versa.

Hereinafter the means will be explained that are provided for effecting such selective adjustment of the needles.

In the embodiments illustrated in FIGS. 1-11 the adjustment of the needles is effected by a gate shown in elevation in FIGS. and 6. This gate comprises converging rods 34 and a frame supporting such rods 34 within a common plane, the frame being composed of a pair of transverse beams 36 and two pairs of longitudinal beams 38, see FIGS. 6 and 7. Each transverse beams 36 has a U-shaped cross-sectional profile, FIG. 1, being composed of a bar 40 forming the web portion of such profile and a pair of plates 42 forming the arms of the U-shaped profile. The opposed sides of the plates 42 form clamping jaws for clamping the end portions of the gate rods 34 between them. These clamping jaws are provided with grooves accommodating the edges of the fiat bars 34, as shown at the bottom of FIG. 1. The pair of plates 42 and the bar 40 inserted between them are rigidly connected by screws.

The end faces of the plates 42 too are provided with grooves 44 as shown in FIG. 5. The purpose of these grooves will be explained later.

The gate is mounted for displacement transversely to the plane in which the needles 14 are disposed. The gate is so mounted that each of its rods 34 extends between the stems 16 of adjacent needles for engaging the same. In FIG. 1 the gate is shown in its lowermost position in which the upper transverse beam 36 composed of the bar 40 and of the plates 42 is placed on top of the stems 16 of the needles 14, whereas the lower transverse beam 36 is disposed far below the needles 14. In FIG. 3 the gate is shown in its uppermost position in which the lower transverse beam 36 contacts the bottom sides of the stems 16 of the needles.

Means provided in addition to the guiding arms 20 are provided on the frame of the apparatus for guiding the needles for movement towards and away from each other. In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1-11 such guiding means comprises a first pair of bars 48 movably mounted on the frame of the apparatus on the upper side of the row of needle stems 16 and a second pair of bars 46 mounted on the frame on the lower side of the row of needle stems 16. Each of the bars 46, 48 has a smooth guiding surface for engagement with the row of needle stems. The bars of each pair are movable towards each other into a closed position and away from each other into an open position. In FIG. 1 the bars 46 assume the closed position and the bars 48 assume the open position. For this purpose each bar 46 is fixed to the top ends of a pair of downwardly extending arms 50 which are pivotally mounted on a horizontal frame shaft 52, extend downwardly therefrom and across each other as will appear from FIG. 1. Similarly, each of the bars 4-8 is carried by the lower ends of upwardly extending arms 64. The arms 64- are pivotally mounted on a frame shaft 52', extend above the same and cross each other. The upper ends of the arms 64 and the lower ends of the arms 50 straddle a frame shaft 56 and are provided with adjustable abutment screws 54 adapted to abut against the frame shaft 56. Owing to this abutment the pivot angle of each arm 50 and 64 is limited so as to determine the closed position of the pair of bars 46 and 48, respectively. A biassed tension spring 53 extends between the outer ends of the arms 50, or 64, respectively, and is anchored thereto. Under the effect of this spring 53 the arms tend to move the bars 46 and 48 into their closed position. However, they may be spread apart and moved into their outer position by engagement of inclined cam faces 60 provided on the arms 50, and 64, respectively, with the coordinated transverse gate beam 36, when the same is moved into engagement 'With the row of needle stems. Upon such engagement, the stems 16 of the needles 14 are confined within the grooves 44 of such transverse beam 36 disposed on one side of the needle stems by the pair of bars 46 or 48, respectively, disposed on the opposite side of the needle stems. As shown in FIG. 1, for instance, the stems 16 are confined in the grooves 44 of the plates 42 of the upper transverse beam 36 by the bars 46, whereas in FIG. 3 the needle stems 16 are confined in the grooves 44 of the lower transverse beam 36 by the bars 48.

Both pairs of bars 46, 48 assume their closed positions during the period in which the gate is in motion towards one or the other of its end positions and by means of its rods 34 exerts a camming action on the stems 16 to change the spacing thereof. Therefore, the bars 46 and 48 will safely support and guide the stems 16 during such camming action. When the gate is in one or the other of its end positions, the needles 14 are securely held in the adjusted spaced position owing to the confinement of each stem 16 in a groove 44 of one or the other transverse beam 36. In their closed positions the bars 46, 48 are slightly spaced from the rods 34 to avoid friction therewith.

From the foregoing explanation it will be readily understood that when the gate is moved upwardly starting from its lowermost position shown in FIG. 1 and approaches its uppermost position shown in FIG. 3, the lower transverse beam 36 of the gate will move upwardly between the arms 50 until the upper outer edges of its plates 42 will engage the cam faces 60 of the arms 50 and spread the same apart. Finally the lower transverse beam 36 will arrive in the position shown in FIG. 3 in which it will engage the bottom side of the needle stems 16 and urge the same into contact with the bars 48 thereabove. In this phase of the operation the grooves 44 will accurately position the needles 14 to the pattern shown in FIG. 7.

As long as the gate assumes its lowermost position shown in FIG. 1, the gate rods 34 'will hold the needles 14 spaced in accordance with the pattern shown in FIG. 7, provided that the gate rods are shaped and disposed within the gate as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6. As illustrated therein, a gate rod 35 having a bifurcated end portion is disposed between adjacent groups each group comprising four straight simple rods 34. In other words, each fifth rod is bifurcated at its upper end and its branches cam the adjacent needles 14 apart to such an extent as illustrated at 37 in FIG. 7. When the gate is lifted, however, its rods 34 will space the needles 14 to a uniform spacing as illustrated in FIG. 8.

In FIG. 11 a gate is shown which is free of bifurcated rods and, therefore, will adjust the needles 14 to a uniform spacing when moved to its lowermost position. The distances of this spacing are larger than those to which the needles will be adjusted by the gate in its uppermost position.

Suitable means are provided for guiding the gate for movement transversely to the plane containing the magazine needles 14. In the embodiment shown the longitudinal beams 38 are provided with horizontally outwardly extending pins carrying rotatable follower rollers 39, FIG. 7. These rollers engage between the arms of U-shaped rails 41 fixed to the frame of the machine so as to extend at right angles to the plane in which the needles 14 are mounted.

While I may shift the gate manually between its end positions, I prefer to provide power-driven means for such purpose. In the embodiment shown a block 62 is attached to each transverse beam 36. A suitable traction member, such as a chain 63, has one end anchored to the block 62. This chain extends towards and engages a sprocket 66 mounted on the upper frame shaft 52' and thence extends towards and engages a sprocket 68 mounted on a frame shaft 67, further extending to and engaging a sprocket 72 journaled on a frame shaft 70 and via a sprocket 74 mounted on the lower frame shaft 52 and thence extends and is anchored to a block 62 fixed to the lower transverse beam of the gate. The sprocket 68 can be driven in one or the opposite direction. For this purpose it is fixed to a coaxial sprocket 69 adapted to be driven by a motor 71 and an auxiliary chain in one or the opposite direction. The weight of the gate can be compensated for by a counterweight 73 fixed to a cable wound on a cable drum axially connected with the sprockets 68, 69. This counterweight tends to rotate the cable drum and the sprockets 68, 69 connected therewith in anticlockwise direction. When the motor 71 is started in the one or in the opposite direction it will displace the gate from its one end position to the opposite end position. Suitable limit switches may be coordinated to the gate to stop the motor in the end position of the gate.

Additionally to the power-driven means for moving the gate, I may provide suitable means for urging the needleengaging transverse beam 36 of the gate into engagement with the needles. For this purpose an arm '76 is pivotally mounted on a frame shaft 70 and is provided with a toothed sector 77 and is pivotally connected with a vertical rod 78. This rod carries a pin 80 straddled by a bifurcated arm 84 pivotally mounted on a frame shaft 82 and carrying a handle -86. The toothed sector 77 meshes with a pinion 90 rotatably mounted on a frame shaft 88. A finger 92 is fixed to the pinion 90 and is adapted to engage the transverse gate beam 36.

When the operator moves the arm 86 from the position indicated at 1 in FIG. 1 into the position 2, the finger 92 will move to the position indicated by dotted lines at 2. In this position the finger permits the lower transverse gate beam 36 to pass in the course of its upward motion. When the handle 86 and the finger 92 cooperatively connected thereto are moved into the position 3, the finger will engage the bottom face of the transverse gate beam 36 urging the same upwardly. This will ensure that the stems 16 of the needles are firmly and rigidly clamped between the bars 48 thereabove and the transverse beam 36 therebelow, the beam 36 being provided with the grooves 44 accommodating the needle stems 16-.

The upper end of the rod 78 is pivotally connected to an arm 94 of a second toothed sector 96 rotatably mounted on a frame shaft 98 and engaging a pinion rotatably mounted on a frame shaft 100 and provided with a finger 102. When the handle 86 and the finger 102 are in the position shown at 1 in FIG. 1, the finger 102 presses on the top face of the upper transverse beam 36 of the gate and thereby will cause the latter to firmly clamp the needles against the bars 46.

When the needles 14 are in the position illustrated in FIG. in which the gate assumes its top position, the needles have been adjusted as shown in FIGS. 6 and 8 and, therefore, are disposed at equal distances just the same as are the needles of the knitting machine supplying the fabrics 30. Therefore, the operator may readily place the needles 14 of my novel magazine bar into opposition with the needles 15 and may shift the ribs 30 in one operation from the needles 15 to the needles 14, as each needle 14 is accurately aligned with a needle 15 and thus in a position to directly receive the loop of the fabric therefrom. Then the operator will shift the gate from the position of FIG. 10 into the lowermost position of FIG. 9 thereby displacing the needles 14 from the position of FIG. 8 into the position of FIG. 7 in which they are spaced in accordance with the same pattern as are the needles 32 of the flat bar knitting machine. Therefore, the operator may then readily place the needles 14 into opposition with the needles 32 and shift the ribs in one operation from the needles 14 on to the needles 32 of the transfer bar of the straight bar knitting machine.

In FIG. 12 I have shown another embodiment of my invention. In this embodiment the means of the frame for guiding the needles 14 for movement towards and away from each other have been modified. The guiding arms 20 have been omitted and have been replaced by a composite frame bar 23, 25 forming a longitudinal channel 27 which extends parallel to the transverse beams 36 of the gate and has a mouth of reduced width. The stem of each magazine needle 14 has a bent foot portion which is guided in the channel 27 engaging a groove 29 provided in the portion 23 of the frame bar, the groove communicating with the channel 27. Moreover, each needle stem has a flat section 104 which is guided within the restricted mouth of the channel for displacement parallel to the composite frame bar 23, 25. The flat section 104 of the needle stem has a width surpassing that of the restricted mouth of the channel 27. Therefore, the needle stem is prevented by the walls of the restricted mouth from rotating about the longitudinal axis of the stem. The channel 27 and the groove 29 communicating therewith constitute a guideway extending parallel to the gate which prevents undesirable longitudinal displacements of the needles. However, the needles are displaceable towards and away from each other. They are securely held in their selected positions by being clamped between the transverse beam 36 of the gate and the pair of bars 46, or 48, respectively, as described herein above.

In FIG. 13 I have shown an embodiment of my invention in which the needles 14 are relatively displaced towards and away from each other by a pair of parallel screw spindles and 112 which extend through bores provided in the needle stems. Each screw spindle has threads of opposite hand meeting at the center of the spindle. The pitch of each thread increases from such center towards the ends of the spindle. The spindles are rotatably mounted in the frame of the apparatus and geared to each other for common rotation. Each needle bore is provided with an internal tooth engaging the thread groove of the spindle. Therefore, common rotation of the spindles will so shift the needles parallel to themselves that their distance from the centers of the spindles increases or decreases to a degree proportional to the distance of the needles from the centers of the spindles. Hence, the spacing of the needles can be increased or decreased by rotation of the spindles as desired.

From the above description it will appear that the present invention efficiently achieves the objects above explained.

What I claim is:

1. Magazine bar for transferring knitted fabric from a supplying knitting machine having knitting needles spaced in accordance with a first pattern to a receiving knitting machine having knitting needles spaced in accordance with a second pattern, said mazagine bar comprising a frame, astraight row of parallel magazine needles mounted in said frame, means on said frame for guiding each of said needles for movement towards and away from the adjacent needles, and adjustable means on said frame engaging said magazine needles for selectively adjusting the same to distances corresponding to one or the other of said patterns.

2. The combination as claimed in claim 1 in which said adjustable means comprises a gate having converging rods each engaging between adjacent ones of said magazine needles, means for guiding said gate for movement transversely to said magazine needles, and actuating means connected with said gate for performing such movement.

3. The combination as claimed in claim 2 in which said gate comprises spaced transverse beams extending transversely to said rods and connected to the ends thereof, one bar being disposed on one side and the other bar being disposed on the other side of said row of magazine needles, the faces of said bars confronting said magazine needles being provided with parallel transverse grooves for accommodating said needles, the grooves of one of said beams being spaced in accordance with said first pattern and the grooves of the other one of said beams being spaced in accordance with said second pattern.

4. The combination claimed in claim 1 in which said means on said frame for guiding said needles comprises a first pair of bars mounted on said frame on one side of said row of magazine needles, a second pair of bars mounted on said frame on the other side of said row of magazine needles, each of said bars having a smooth guiding surface for engagement with said needles, and means on said frame connected to said needles for preventing them from rotating about their axes.

5. The combination claimed in claim 4, further comprising means on said frame connected with the bars of each of said pairs for guiding said bars for movement towards and away from each other and means connected With said bars and responsive to the movements of said gate for moving the bars of said first pair towards each other when said gate starts its movement in one direction and for moving them away from each other, when said gate terminates its last mentioned movement, said bars of each pair, when moved away from each other,

accommodating one of said transverse beams of said gate between them.

6. The combination claimed in claim 5 further comprising an auxiliary actuating mechanism mounted on said frame and adapted to engage said gate in each of its end positions for pressing of said transverse beams disposed on one side of said row of magazine needles into engagement with one of said pairs of bars disposed on the opposite side of said row of magazine needles.

7. The combination claimed in claim 4 in which said means on said frame connected to said needles comprises guiding arms individually hinged to said needles and to said frame by pivots, each of said pivots extending transversely to said needles.

. 8. The combination claimed in claim 4 in which said means on said frame connected to said needles comprises a composite frame bar forming a longitudinal channel extending parallel to said transverse beams of said gate and having a mouth of reduced width, each of said magazine needles having a foot portion guided within said longitudinal channel and having a flat section guided within said mouth of said channel for displacement parallel to said composite frame bar.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,319,770 5/1943 Beers 66-148 3,243,976 4/ 1966 Matthews 66-148 3,446,042 5/1969 Fontaine 66148 FORETGN PATENTS 1,015,586 1/1966 Great Britain.

RONALD FELDBAUM, Primary Examiner 

